--- title: "What details do you need to pay someone in Brazil or Mexico? Pix keys, CPF, and CLABE" seoTitle: "Payout details for Brazil and Mexico: Pix key, CPF, CLABE" description: "What a payout to Brazil or Mexico needs from the recipient: Pix key types, CPF and CNPJ formats, the 18-digit CLABE, and the checks that stop a bad payout." date: "2026-09-23" updated: "2026-09-23" category: "payments" author: "BlindPay Team" howto: name: "How to collect payout details for a recipient in Brazil or Mexico" steps: - name: "Record who owns the account" text: "Note whether the account belongs to your customer or to a third party such as an employee, contractor, or supplier, and collect the account holder's full legal name." - name: "Collect the Brazilian identifier" text: "Ask for a Pix key: a CPF, CNPJ, mobile number, email, or random key. If the recipient has no key, collect the CPF or CNPJ, the bank code, the branch, and the account number with its check digit." - name: "Collect the Mexican identifier" text: "Ask for the 18-digit CLABE and the account holder's name. A debit card number or phone number also works, together with the bank's institution code." - name: "Validate before you save" text: "Strip formatting, then check lengths and check digits: 11 digits for a CPF, 14 characters for a CNPJ, 18 digits for a CLABE with a valid final digit. Reject malformed values in the form, not at payout time." - name: "Save the account and send a first payout" text: "Store the validated details as a bank account with your payout provider, send a small first payout, and reuse the stored account for every payout after that." faq: - q: "What is a Pix key?" a: "A Pix key is an alias that points to a Brazilian bank or payment account. It can be a CPF, a CNPJ, a mobile number, an email address, or a random key generated by the bank. The Banco Central do Brasil runs the directory that resolves each key to an account, so the payer needs only the key, not the bank, branch, and account number." - q: "How many digits is a CLABE?" a: "18. The first three identify the bank, the next three the city, the next eleven the account, and the last one is a check digit calculated from the other seventeen. A mistyped digit almost always breaks the check digit, so validating it catches most typos before any money moves." - q: "What is the difference between a CPF and a CNPJ?" a: "A CPF is the 11-digit tax number for individuals in Brazil. A CNPJ is the 14-character tax number for companies: an 8-character root, a 4-character branch number (0001 for the head office), and 2 check digits. Since July 31, 2026, Receita Federal issues new CNPJs that can include letters; existing numeric CNPJs stay valid." - q: "Can I pay a Pix key that isn't in my customer's name?" a: "Yes, if your provider supports third-party payouts. On BlindPay, a customer can pay out to a bank account that belongs to someone else, such as an employee, contractor, or supplier, by setting the recipient relationship on the bank account. The recipient still needs a valid Pix key or bank details, and the payout still goes through compliance screening." - q: "Do I need the recipient's RFC to pay them over SPEI?" a: "Not for the SPEI payment itself. A SPEI payout needs the CLABE, or a debit card or phone number, plus the account holder's name. The RFC, Mexico's tax ID, is for your tax and invoicing records. A SWIFT payout to a Mexican beneficiary is different: BlindPay requires the beneficiary's local tax ID and phone number there." --- To pay someone in Brazil, you need their full name and a Pix key: a CPF, CNPJ, mobile number, email, or random key. Without a key, you need their CPF or CNPJ plus the bank code, branch, and account number. To pay someone in Mexico, you need their name and an 18-digit CLABE. Validate every identifier when you save it, before the first payout. That's the whole list. Most failed payouts to Latin America don't fail because of the stablecoin. They fail on one digit. ## What do you need to pay someone in Brazil? A name and one of three sets of details, depending on the rail. | Rail | What you collect | When to use it | | --- | --- | --- | | Pix by key | Account holder's name, Pix key | The default. Instant, 24/7 | | Pix by bank details | Name, CPF or CNPJ, bank ISPB code, branch, account number with check digit, account type | The recipient has no Pix key, or you want to pay one specific account | | TED | Name, CPF or CNPJ, bank COMPE code, branch, account number with check digit, account type | Older bank transfer rail. Settles the same banking day if sent before the cut-off | [Pix](https://www.bcb.gov.br/en/financialstability/pix_en) is Brazil's instant payment system, run by the Banco Central do Brasil since November 2020. It settles in seconds and runs 24/7, including weekends and holidays. TED doesn't. A TED sent after the end of the Brazilian banking day waits for the next one, which can push it past a weekend. ### What are the five types of Pix key? | Key type | Format | Belongs to | | --- | --- | --- | | CPF | 11 digits, written 000.000.000-00 | An individual | | CNPJ | 14 characters, written 00.000.000/0000-00 | A company | | Mobile number | +55, area code, number | Whoever registered it | | Email | A regular email address | Whoever registered it | | Random key | A long code the bank generates | Whoever registered it, with no personal data exposed | Under the Central Bank's rules, an individual can register up to 5 keys per account and a company up to 20. Each key points to one account at a time. Keys move. A recipient can delete a key or port it to a different bank, so a phone key that paid the right account in March can point somewhere else in September. When a recipient says they changed banks, ask for the key again. When a person pays a Pix key in a banking app, the app shows the recipient's name and part of their tax number before they confirm. An automated payout has no one looking at that screen. Collect the account holder's legal name up front and treat a mismatch as a reason to stop, not a reason to retry. ### How are CPF and CNPJ numbers built? A **CPF** has 11 digits. The last two are check digits calculated from the first nine, so a random typo fails validation. A **CNPJ** has 14 characters: an 8-character root that identifies the company, a 4-character number for the establishment (0001 is the head office), and 2 check digits. One change matters for anyone writing validation code. Since July 31, 2026, Receita Federal issues [new CNPJs that can contain letters](https://www.gov.br/receitafederal/pt-br/acesso-a-informacao/acoes-e-programas/programas-e-atividades/cnpj-alfanumerico) as well as numbers. They keep 14 characters and numeric check digits, and existing numeric CNPJs don't change. A form that only accepts `^\d{14}$` will reject a valid company registered this year. ### When do you need bank details instead of a Pix key? When the recipient doesn't have a key, or when a supplier's invoice lists a bank account instead. Pix can still pay by account details. You need the recipient's CPF or CNPJ, the bank's code, the branch, and the account number. Two bank codes exist in Brazil, and they're easy to mix up. The **ISPB** is an 8-digit code that identifies an institution in the Central Bank's systems, and it's what Pix uses. The **COMPE** code is the 3-digit bank number people know from checkbooks and TED transfers. Account numbers usually end in a check digit after a hyphen, like `12345-6`. Leave it off and the payment has nowhere to go. ## What do you need to pay someone in Mexico? A name and a CLABE, in almost every case. | Destination | What you collect | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | CLABE | Account holder's name, 18-digit CLABE | The default for SPEI | | Debit card | Account holder's name, card number, bank institution code | Useful for recipients who only know their card | | Phone number | Account holder's name, phone number, bank institution code | Only if the account is linked to the number | [SPEI](https://www.banxico.org.mx/services/interbanking-electronic-payme.html) is Mexico's interbank payment system, run by Banco de México since 2004. It settles in seconds and runs 24/7, so a payout on a Sunday night lands like one on a Tuesday morning. ### How is a CLABE built? | Positions | Digits | Meaning | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 to 3 | 3 | Bank code | | 4 to 6 | 3 | City (plaza) code | | 7 to 17 | 11 | Account number | | 18 | 1 | Check digit | The check digit is what makes a CLABE safe to type. To verify one: 1. Multiply each of the first 17 digits by a repeating weight of 3, 7, 1. 2. Keep only the last digit of each product. 3. Add them up and take the last digit of the sum. 4. Subtract that from 10. The result, with 10 counted as 0, must equal the 18th digit. It takes a few lines of code and catches every single-digit typo and most swapped pairs. The first three digits also tell you the bank, so you can show "BBVA México" or "Banorte" next to the field and let the recipient spot a wrong account before you do. ### Does a Mexican payout need the RFC or CURP? Not for SPEI routing. The RFC is Mexico's tax ID, 13 characters for individuals and 12 for companies, and the CURP is an 18-character personal registry code. Neither moves the money. Collect the RFC if your finance team needs it for tax records or supplier invoices. ## What about paying Brazil or Mexico over SWIFT? It's possible and slower, and it needs more data. A USD payout over SWIFT to a Brazilian or Mexican beneficiary needs the beneficiary's full address, the bank's SWIFT code and address, the account number, and on BlindPay the beneficiary's local tax ID and phone number. SWIFT payouts have a 100 USD minimum and can take up to 5 business days. Local rails ask for less and settle faster. Unless the recipient specifically wants dollars in a dollar account, pay in reais over Pix or pesos over SPEI. [USDC to MXN routes](/resources/more/usdc-to-mxn-routes-2026) and [USDC to BRL routes](/resources/more/usdc-to-brl-routes-2026) compare the options for each currency. ## Which details break payouts most often? - **Formatting left in.** Dots, slashes, dashes, and spaces in a CPF, CNPJ, or CLABE. Strip them before validating, and keep letters for new CNPJs. - **Phone keys without the country code.** A Brazilian mobile key needs +55 in front. - **A card number pasted into the CLABE field.** 16 digits where 18 belong. Length checks catch this instantly. - **The trade name instead of the legal name.** Brazilian and Mexican banks register a company's legal name, not the brand on its website. - **A missing account check digit** on Brazilian bank details. - **An old Pix key** that now points to a different account, or to nothing. - **Assuming TED runs on weekends.** It doesn't. Pix and SPEI do. Each one turns into a returned or failed payout days later if nobody catches it in the form. [Common stablecoin payout mistakes](/resources/more/stablecoin-payout-mistakes) covers the stablecoin-side errors that sit next to these. ## How does BlindPay handle Brazil and Mexico payout details? Each recipient is a bank account on a customer. BlindPay validates the data on creation (format, length, and country rules) the same way on development and production instances, so a bad CLABE fails in testing, not on payday. - **Pix** needs a name and a Pix key. - **PIX Safe** pays by bank details instead of a key: CPF or CNPJ, ISPB bank code, branch, and account number with check digit. It settles instantly. - **TED** uses the same fields keyed by the COMPE code, and settles in about one business day. - **SPEI** takes a CLABE, a debit card number, or a phone number, plus the beneficiary name, with the institution code for card and phone payouts. You don't have to hardcode any of this. `GET /available/bank-details?rail=...` returns each rail's fields with validation patterns and bank picklists, and it's public, so your recipient form can check what BlindPay checks. Third-party accounts are supported through the recipient relationship field: an employee, a contractor, a supplier. The full field list is in [bank accounts](/docs/bank-accounts), and the rails by country are in [payment methods](/docs/kb/payment-methods). Pix and SPEI payouts at BlindPay are instant. [How to send USDC to a bank account in Brazil](/resources/more/how-to-send-usdc-to-bank-account-brazil) walks through a full payout, and [how to off-ramp USDT in Latin America](/resources/more/how-to-off-ramp-usdt-latin-america) covers the stablecoin side for each country. ## What should you do next? Build your recipient form from the bank-details endpoint, add the CLABE and CPF check digits client-side, and accept alphanumeric CNPJs. Then send your first Pix and SPEI payouts on a free development instance with the [payout quickstart](/docs/quickstart-payout), or check today's rate on the [USDC to BRL](/usdc-to-brl) and [USDC to MXN](/usdc-to-mxn) pages. For how the whole flow fits together, start with [stablecoin payments explained](/resources/more/stablecoin-payments-guide).